


*insert spiderman pointing meme here*

by moxie_girl



Series: gaang gaang 'verse [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Identity Reveal, Superheroes, gaang gaang 'verse, no beta we die like lu ten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27859242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moxie_girl/pseuds/moxie_girl
Summary: A oneshot documenting how, exactly, Katara and Sokka discovered each other's superhero shenanigans.
Relationships: None
Series: gaang gaang 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038846
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	*insert spiderman pointing meme here*

Katara sighed and pulled on her mask. After weeks of preparation, sneaking off to costume stores and ordering things online, her outfit was ready. She admired herself in the mirror. The costume was mostly shades of blue, mirroring her water powers. A light blue tunic, cinched at the waist, over blue leggings. Blue fingerless gloves and a domino mask, soft brown boots, and a small pouch of water to hang at her waist. Metal arm and leg guards glinted silver in the setting sun coming in through her window. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, so different from her usual simple braid, and she pulled a few loose strands into the hair loops her mom used to wear. Katara thought she looked pretty good. Now all she needed was a name. Smiling, Katara remembered an old myth her mother used to tell her, of a river spirit with the power to heal those who needed it. The Painted Lady. 

With the reappearance of the Avatar and the consequential uptick in crimes, she decided to finally put to use the phrase from one of her favorite comic books. With great power comes great responsibility. Katara had great power, that much was true, and she was ready to use it. She locked her bedroom door, climbed out her bedroom window onto the fire escape, and checking one more time to be sure nobody was watching, clambered up to the rooftops. Katara had spent the last few months preparing for this. When she got the idea, the first thing she did was start to head to the gym to exercise daily. It was also the perfect cover since Dad and Sokka probably would assume she was at the gym right now. Since she had no mobility-related powers, she would have to get around the old-fashioned way, rooftop jumping. 

She was nervous at first, but after half an hour and only falling into an alleyway once (poor cat), she was feeling much more confident. That was when the cries caught her ear. She climbed down and followed the sound to discover a mugger cornering a young boy in a dead-end alleyway. Rather cliché, she mulled, as she summoned a few ice daggers to pin the man to the wall. She blocked a few stabs from his knife with her arm-guards before sending it skittering across the alley ground. Mugger dealt with, she turned to the boy. He seemed uninjured, just scared. 

“Do you have a phone?” Katara asked, in the kindest tone she could manage. He wordlessly offered it to her. She called the police, anonymously tipping them off to the location of the mugger. As she prepared to climb back up to the roof, the boy grabbed her arm.

“Wait! What should I call you?” She glanced down at him with a smile.

“Tell them it was the Painted Lady.” And then she was off.

After a few more muggings and one armed robbery (thank the spirits for healing powers), Katara was feeling great! As she started home, not even hesitating to look down as she jumped over alleyways, she decided that superheroing was perhaps the best decision she had ever made. As her apartment building came into view, she spotted another figure running towards her from the opposite direction. As he came into view, she noticed a few very important details:

  1. He was dressed similarly to her, in blue and white with arm wraps and knee-high boots,
  2. His hair was shaved on the sides, pulled into a ponytail that Katara was _sure_ she had seen before, and most importantly,
  3. As he tucked into a roll from a particularly long jump, she spotted a glint of metal on his back. A boomerang. A _very familiar_ boomerang.



As she ground to a halt in front of the not-so-stranger, Katara opened her mouth. “Sokka-”

“Katara-” 

She looked at him in shock, then tried again. “What are you-”

“Why are you-” 

She tried once more. “You go first.” Sokka sighed.

“ _I_ was out here saving people’s lives. You?”

“The same.” She tried to keep up the serious-superhero-meeting façade, but she met her brother’s eyes and couldn’t help but giggle. “I- *giggle* I can’t- *wheeze* I can’t believe we both decided to be superheroes at the same time _without telling each other._ ” Sokka tried to keep a straight face, but soon he was laughing too.

“How- *wheeze* How did you even manage to sneak this past dad? You’re a- *giggle* You’re a _terrible_ liar!” Soon they were both down on the roof, basically rolling around with laughter. Any observer would assume they had both lost their minds. Luckily for them, nobody else was around.

“Like- *cackle* Like you’re any better!” Katara retorted.

“Hey!” They laughed for a few more minutes, spread-eagled on the roof before Sokka sobered up. “So, do you want to team up or something?” Katara pretended to ponder it, though they both knew the answer.

“Sure. I’ll probably need to know your name first.”

“YOU KNOW MY- Oh you mean my superhero name,” Sokka pulled himself up into a sitting position, “Captain Boomerang.” This spawned another round of laughter from Katara. “Hey! It’s not _that_ bad!”

“It’s- *giggle* It’s exactly that bad.” She wheezed out, clutching her stomach.

“Okay, well, I bet yours is worse!” He retorted, pointing an accusing finger.

“First of- *wheeze* First of all, nothing could be worse than _Captain Boomerang_. Second, it’s the Painted Lady.” Katara collected herself and sat up.

“Ugh, that is _way_ better than mine,” Sokka sighed, “But it’s too late now. I already told like six muggers and a very confused police officer my name.” He looked down at the fire escape. “We should probably head in.” They started to climb down, each heading for their bedroom window. Before she slipped inside, Katara called out.

“See you in the morning, bro.” He stopped and turned to her.

“You too.”

And that was how the Painted Lady and Captain Boomerang, Omashu City’s most iconic superhero duo since Oma and Shu themselves, got their start.

**Author's Note:**

> Please drop a comment! Criticisms welcome!
> 
> **Note: Their costumes look pretty similar to their outfits in the show, just +masks**


End file.
